What New York’s Mayor Told Jewish New Yorkers on Day One

Stripping away protections against antisemitism was a deliberate opening act — and a warning of what lies ahead.

Within hours of taking office on New Year’s Day, New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, revoked the city’s use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism — a globally recognized framework designed to help governments and institutions identify and respond to anti-Jewish hatred. The decision was briefly announced and then quietly removed from official city channels. But its meaning was unmistakable.

This was not a procedural tweak or a symbolic housekeeping move. It was a deliberate Day One act, fully aligned with positions the mayor had articulated repeatedly during his campaign. Mamdani is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. He has refused to publicly affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. And he has declined to condemn the phrase Globalize the Intifada — a slogan widely understood as a call to violence against Jews worldwide. Revoking the IHRA definition is not incidental to these view…